Attorney General warns of phishing email scam

December 23, 2009 at 1:49 PM CST - Updated June 20 at 12:06 PM

By WLOX Staff

JACKSON, MS (WLOX) - State Attorney General Jim Hood is warning Mississippians about an email currently circulating that asks for personal information, and appears to be from the email provider Hotmail. (View the complete email below.)

Hood said the email appears to originate from a hotmail account. It states that if the information is not sent, the user's account will be closed.

"These computer crooks don't stop their phishing scams for Christmas," Hood said. "Always be extremely careful in responding to a request for any of your personal information via email or telephone. These con artists always create an urgency by stating 'your account will be closed if you don't respond quickly.'"

If you receive a suspicious email requesting personal information such as bank account numbers or a social security number, don't respond. Instead contact your internet service provider and report the email to the Attorney General's Office at 1-800-281-4418.

Below is a copy of the email:

Dear Account User,

We encountered a problem with our database and a lot of records were lost, we are restoring our database to enable us serve you better. Your Windows Live! Account details are required so as to store in our database to keep your account active. Failure to do this will lose his or her account permanently.

To update and enable us restore your account details in our data base to keep your account active, you are required to provide us the details below urgently. Click the reply button to enter details below.

Name: ……………………..

Username: ……………………..

Password: …………………….

Date of Birth: …………………

Country or Territory: …………

Make sure the details above are correct to enable us restore your account details, this will help prevent your account from been suspended.

Note: YOUR DETAILS WILL NOT BE SHARED.

Users have often told us that the more they use Windows Live! Service, the more they discover its benefits. We'll keep working on making Windows Live! the best email service around, and we appreciate your joining us for the ride.

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